diff --git a/sphinx/texinputs/sphinx.sty b/sphinx/texinputs/sphinx.sty
index 8e78e66fb..cbc465c1e 100644
--- a/sphinx/texinputs/sphinx.sty
+++ b/sphinx/texinputs/sphinx.sty
@@ -402,33 +402,15 @@
 
 %% COLOR (general)
 %
-% FIXME: the reasons might be obsolete (better color drivers now?)
-% use pdfoutput for pTeX and dvipdfmx
-% when pTeX (\kanjiskip is defined), set pdfoutput to evade \include{pdfcolor}
-\ifx\kanjiskip\undefined\else
-  \newcount\pdfoutput\pdfoutput=0
-\fi
-
-% for PDF output, use colors and maximal compression
-\newif\ifsphinxpdfoutput % used in \maketitle
-\ifx\pdfoutput\undefined\else
- \ifnum\pdfoutput=\z@
-  \let\py@NormalColor\relax
-  \let\py@TitleColor\relax
- \else
-  \sphinxpdfoutputtrue
-  \input{pdfcolor}
-  \def\py@NormalColor{\color[rgb]{0.0,0.0,0.0}}
-  \def\py@TitleColor{\color{TitleColor}}
-  \pdfcompresslevel=9
- \fi
-\fi
-
-% XeLaTeX can do colors, too
-\ifx\XeTeXrevision\undefined\else
-  \def\py@NormalColor{\color[rgb]{0.0,0.0,0.0}}
-  \def\py@TitleColor{\color{TitleColor}}
-\fi
+% FIXME: \normalcolor should probably be used in place of \py@NormalColor
+% elsewhere, and \py@NormalColor should never be defined. \normalcolor
+% switches to the colour from last \color call in preamble.
+\def\py@NormalColor{\color{black}}
+% FIXME: it is probably better to use \color{TitleColor}, as TitleColor
+% can be customized from 'sphinxsetup', and drop usage of \py@TitleColor
+\def\py@TitleColor{\color{TitleColor}}
+% FIXME: this line should be dropped, as "9" is default anyhow.
+\ifdefined\pdfcompresslevel\pdfcompresslevel = 9 \fi
 
 
 %% PAGE STYLING
diff --git a/sphinx/texinputs/sphinxhowto.cls b/sphinx/texinputs/sphinxhowto.cls
index 299777f4e..cf776534a 100644
--- a/sphinx/texinputs/sphinxhowto.cls
+++ b/sphinx/texinputs/sphinxhowto.cls
@@ -30,8 +30,9 @@
 % ``Bjarne'' style a bit better.
 %
 \renewcommand{\maketitle}{%
-  \noindent\rule{\textwidth}{1pt}\ifsphinxpdfoutput\newline\null\fi\par
-  \ifsphinxpdfoutput
+  \noindent\rule{\textwidth}{1pt}\par
+  % FIXME: use \hypersetup{pdfauthor={\@author}, pdftitle={\@title}}
+  \ifdefined\pdfinfo
     \begingroup
     % These \defs are required to deal with multi-line authors; it
     % changes \\ to ', ' (comma-space), making it pass muster for
diff --git a/sphinx/texinputs/sphinxmanual.cls b/sphinx/texinputs/sphinxmanual.cls
index 76e7a394f..b201d4a99 100644
--- a/sphinx/texinputs/sphinxmanual.cls
+++ b/sphinx/texinputs/sphinxmanual.cls
@@ -40,8 +40,9 @@
   \begin{titlepage}%
     \let\footnotesize\small
     \let\footnoterule\relax
-    \noindent\rule{\textwidth}{1pt}\ifsphinxpdfoutput\newline\null\fi\par
-    \ifsphinxpdfoutput
+    \noindent\rule{\textwidth}{1pt}\par
+    % FIXME: use \hypersetup{pdfauthor={\@author}, pdftitle={\@title}}
+    \ifdefined\pdfinfo
       \begingroup
       % These \defs are required to deal with multi-line authors; it
       % changes \\ to ', ' (comma-space), making it pass muster for
diff --git a/sphinx/writers/latex.py b/sphinx/writers/latex.py
index 23474248f..36f2062d4 100644
--- a/sphinx/writers/latex.py
+++ b/sphinx/writers/latex.py
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ DEFAULT_SETTINGS = {
     'date':            '',
     'release':         '',
     'author':          '',
-    'logo':            '',
+    'logo':            '\\vbox{}',
     'releasename':     '',
     'makeindex':       '\\makeindex',
     'shorthandoff':    '',